


You, again?

by Janeausten14



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Romance, pride and prejudice - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-05 19:10:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4191594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janeausten14/pseuds/Janeausten14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the worst first date Carol and Daryl are not each others biggest fans. A year later when they are cast as love interests in a production of Pride and Prejudice will they be able to put aside their past grievances and work together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fan fiction, please be kind and patient. Enjoy!!

“I think you two would really hit it off,” Michonne had said to Carol a week ago when she brought up her little matchmaking scheme. Carol and her abusive miscreant of a husband had just divorced a month prior to Michonne and Carol’s conversation. “He is sweet under the rough, red-neck exterior. He is Rick’s best friend so you know he can’t be all that bad.” Carol still wasn’t convinced, but she knew that she needed to move on from her failed, miserable marriage, and this seemed to be a step in the right direction. Eventually she caved and told Michonne to arrange it. 

On the night of their date, Carol sat on her couch nervously sipping a glass of wine. She had hoped that it would help to calm her nerves. It was the first date she had been on since college and she was a little anxious. Where could he be? She thought to herself, he was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. As she internally debated getting another glass of wine she heard a loud rumble pull up in front of her house. She peered out of the window to see a big, beat up; old pick up truck parked in her driveway with a man scowling at her house. He cut the engine and jumped out, pushing his long hair out of his face. He was tall and clearly muscular with shaggy long hair that kept falling into his eyes. Carol found it a little endearing. 

She scurried off to the kitchen to put away her glass and to put the bottle back in the cabinet under her electric mixer. The doorbell rang just as she was slipping on her shoes and putting her phone in her purse. She opened the door, smiling brightly, only to encounter a less than enthusiastic man. 

“Uh, you Carol?” he asked curtly. Attempting to keep an open mind about how the evening would go she nodded and extended her hand to him. He ignored it and brusquely said, “Ya ready?” He isn’t exactly trying to impress, is he? Carol thought to herself. Still, she grabbed her shawl and her bag and stepped out onto the steps to lock the door. 

Carol turned around to ask him where they were going after she made sure that the door was secure but he was halfway to the truck before she could get any words out. A little exacerbated, Carol briskly walked to the truck behind him, not at all surprised when he didn’t open the door for her. She did notice, however, that he glanced over at her once he was ready to pull out to make sure that she was strapped in. Seeing that she was, he reversed out of the driveway and they were off to start their date.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh, why in the hell did I agree to go on a blind date? Daryl asked himself as he was rushing to find a clean shirt in his room. He tried to explain Merle was getting out of prison but Michonne wouldn't listen. So, he was stuck on this blind date with Carol. He didn’t want to cancel on the poor woman who got stuck with him, but at the same time he didn’t want to be nice to anyone. Merle was already getting on his last nerve. Nothing was good enough. He got the wrong kind of beer, he didn’t have something planned for the night Merle got out, and, well, after that Daryl stopped listening. He just wanted to get the night over and done with. 

When he pulled up in front of the little house with the yellow paint and the white window boxes he wondered what Michonne had roped him into. The type of girl he usually dated did not have window boxes. He scowled at the little green digits on the display in his truck that told him he was really late. Part of him hoped that she had given up on him and would tell him to fuck off when she opened the door. Still, he got out and made his way up the little set of stairs leading up to the front door. 

The woman who greeted him was definitely nothing like the type of girls he usually went out with. For one, she was closer to his age rather than the barely-twenty year olds he had been seeing. She was petite and had short spiky hair but what caught him were her eyes. She looked like someone had embedded aquamarines into her skull. They were sparkling and bright, she seemed genuinely happy to see him, something he wasn’t used to. After realizing he had been staring he found his tongue and grunted out, “You Carol?” She stuck her hand out to him but he was afraid of touching her. His hands were calloused and in a perpetual state of looking dirty because of his job as a mechanic. Daryl managed to ask if she was ready to go and when she said yes he turned around and headed for the truck.

I really didn’t need this tonight. Not only do I have to deal with Merle, but also this woman who is actually really pretty. Shit, I should have walked her to the car and opened the door for her. He thought to himself. Nah, if she can’t open her own fucking door, then she can stay here for all I care. I have other shit to deal with and a prissy little princess isn’t going to be one of them.

Once she was buckled, he pulled out of the driveway and headed off to the bar they were going to. It wasn’t much, but it had good burgers and cheap beer and they could play pool if she wanted to. Though I ain’t gonna let her win. Dixons don’t let people win; they have to earn their victory over us. He pulled in to the parking lot and found a spot close to the entrance and cut the engine. “We’re here,” he mumbled to her as he opened the door to get out and go inside the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it! Feel free to comment and tell me what you think! I know the ending is kind of weird, but I promise it will all work out!!

Carol quickly followed Daryl into the small building. The various neon signs in the windows advertised the various beers they offered. There was also a flickering sign, the type that has clearly been around forever and casts bizarre shadows and silhouettes of the surrounding vehicles and shrubbery, with the simple word “POOL” on it. Intrigued and excited she caught the door before it closed behind her date. 

It seemed to Carol that Daryl had relaxed slightly since they exited the car. Obviously he had been here before and was comfortable with the place. She arrived at the corner booth he had chosen just as he was sliding into the side facing the pool tables at the back of the bar. 

Picking up a menu she asked him politely, “So, what’s good here? I’m thinking of getting a nice big burger.” He glanced at her over his menu and grunted. Trying a different tactic she asked, “Do you come here often? It seems rather cozy.” He looked at her again and said, “Yeah,” and then went back to examining the menu. 

Her parents had raised her to be polite and nice to everyone, even if it was a grumpy man who slouches in his seat and doesn’t engage at all with his date. Because of this, she tried to keep the annoyance she felt out of her tone while she suggested that they play pool. His eyes flicked up to hers and he lowered his menu. “You play pool?” he asked incredulously. Happy that she finally got some sort of reaction from the man, she nodded and smiled. Sliding out of the booth she made her way over to an empty table and started to rack up the balls. For a moment she thought that he had stayed at their booth until she saw a pair of scuffed boots out of the corner of her eye. When she looked up he was holding two cues and a cube of the blue chalk along with two beers. 

She reached for one of the bottles he had brought that was resting on the table when he spoke his first actual sentence. “Who said those weren’t both for me?” came his gruff question. She looked him directly in the eye and brought the cold bottle dripping with condensation up to her lips and took a long pull while never breaking eye contact. His eyes twinkled with amusement and she smiled. Shaking his head and pushing the fringe of hair that had fallen into his face back out of his eyes, he handed her a cue. “Ya wanna break, or shall I?” he asked. Taking an exaggerated pull of her beer she said, “You do it. I’m busy.” Daring to throw in a wink, something totally uncharacteristic of her, she chuckled as he rolled his eyes and lined up his shot. She stood next to him to watch and was distracted by the way his jeans snuggly fit his butt. Blushing when she heard him chuckle signally that she had been caught; she took another drink from her bottle. 

Clearing her throat, Carol bent down to take her shot. She could tell that he was staring at her ass as she was leaning over the table. Her jeans looked damn good and she knew it. She didn’t mind at all that he was staring; it had been a while since a man appreciated her looks. Her ex-husband wouldn’t let her do anything to look nice, and he certainly never said anything by ways of complimenting her. Flushing slightly, she refocused her attention to the game.

“Loser buys this next round!” Daryl announced after Carol lost. Smiling and rolling her eyes she went off to the bar to order the next round. While she waited for the bartender to get to her she pulled out her phone. She saw she had a text from Michonne and opened it. How is it going so far??? It read. 

Fine. We are playing pool at a little bar outside of town.

Did you let him win?

This first time. But next round I’m going to wipe the floor with him. Mwahahaha ;)

*eye roll* just remember that boys are fragile…

I’ll just have to let him prove his manliness later…..

CAROL!!!

Laughing at her best friend’s response, she snagged the beers off of the bar and turned around and immediately sobered. Standing next to Daryl was a busty blonde. “Next to” doesn’t properly describe how she was standing. She was pressing herself against him and he didn’t seem to mind by the way he was smiling and not pushing her away. Carol could hear the annoying, high-pitched giggle this girl emitted from across the room. She walked back to Daryl and attempted to not let it show how much it annoyed her that he was flirting with some other woman while Carol and him were on a date. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Oh my god! Daryl?” Daryl heard a familiar and obnoxious voice say. He turned his head from watching his date go get the next round and his eyes landed on Shelly. Shelly was a girl he had slept with off and on for a month or so. She was not at all bright, but he didn’t care, girl had a mouth like a vacuum and sure liked using it. He smiled pleasantly back at her and was a little surprised when she came over to him.

"Heya, Shelly," he said cordially. He didn't really care, he just didn't want to be rude. She came bounding over as he asked, her massive chest bouncing with every step which she then proceeded to push against him while she giggled. 

"I'm good, better now that you're here," she gushed flirtatiously and winked. 

Daryl needed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes at her. Wanting her to go away, he told her that Merle had just gotten out and that she should hit him up. Knowing that Merle was likely to give her drugs, she squealed and threw her arms around Daryl in thanks. 

Unfortunately, that was when Carol walked over carrying the two beers she had gone to get. Shelly looked over her shoulder when she heard Carol approach and smiled at her. "Thanks!" she said, taking the beers. She handed one to Daryl and took a long swig out of the other. When Shelly noticed that Carol had still not left she rudely said, "That's all!" Then, turning to Daryl she stage whispered, "God, so rude." If it had been any other woman, he was sure that Shelly would have had her hair pulled and her face bashed against the table; however, Carol simply looked at him and then looked at Shelly and spun on her heel and went back to their booth. He watched her grab her bag and pull out her cellphone. This is not good, he thought to himself as she headed for the door and put her phone to her ear.

"What was her problem?" Shelly said next to him. 

Shit! He had totally fucked up. Oh well, he thought to himself, he didn't want to go out on a blind date anyway. Rick was gonna have his ass later, but he figured he would just finish his beer and make Shelly make it up to him. He knew it was a shitty thing to do, but tonight he didn't care.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cab pull up and Carol get in before it left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a year later so keep that in mind. And this one is going to be kind of graphic, I included a snippet from when she and Ed were still together and it got a little violent. If you don't want to read it, just skip the italicized parts. I hope you like the rest of the chapter!

"Honey, I think it's great you want to step out of your comfort zone a little bit but you know you don't have to prove anything to anyone, right?" Michonne said as she watched Carol systematically highlight all of her lines in one color and her stage directions in another. "Look," said Carol exasperatedly, "the only person I'm trying to prove anything to is myself. I want to prove to myself that I can do this. I can do whatever I want because Ed can't control me anymore. It's the final piece of skin that needs to be shed before I'm a whole new woman."

Michonne examined her for a minute before sitting down next to her and looking over her shoulder. "All this highlighting and color coding makes you the most OCD of any snake in the world," she chuckled referring to Carol's shedding metaphor.

Carol smiled up at Michonne and flipped to the first page of the script so they could read through Carol's lines.

They sat drinking wine and reading through the script and eventually migrated to the couch in the living room which was where Rick found the two women, facing each other while leaning against the armrests. When he entered the room he was greeted by "hello"s from both women. He waved at Carol and kissed his wife on the top of the head while reading over her shoulder. "Pride and Prejudice as a play? That could be really interesting," he said. "Carol is proving to herself that she is an almost fully shed snake," Michonne said to her husband. At his puzzled expression they both burst out laughing.

"It's my way of proving I am my own woman to myself," Carol said when she caught her breath.

Rick expressed his enthusiasm for what she was doing and asked who would be playing opposite her. "I don't know," she said honestly, "they don't have anyone yet for the part of Mr. Darcy. " Not that she would admit it, but she was nervous about who would be playing opposite her. What if she didn't like him? What if he didn't like her?

With all these thoughts running through her head, she didn't realize Rick was talking to her until something hit her in the head. Shaking herself out of her reverie she saw that both husband and wife were staring at her expectantly and that Michonne was holding a cap less green highlighter.

"What?" She asked slightly embarrassed.

Michonne chuckled while Rick said, "Why don't I audition? I haven't done theater since I was in college. It could be fun! And then you don't have to worry about having to kiss a stranger." He winked at her as he said the last bit. Carol laughed again and thought about it. It seemed like a good idea. Her best friend didn't seem to mind Carol pretending to be in love with her husband and she really liked the idea that she already knew her costar so well.

She finally agreed and they all had a glass of wine to celebrate.

A few days later, Carol was at work, helping a babysitter find some picture books to entertain the children she was watching, when her phone buzzed. Her boss, the head librarian of the children's library, didn't approve of them having their phones on them during the day so Carol hid behind one of the stacks and checked the screen. It was a text message from Rick.

-Say hello to your knew 19th century future husband.

-You got the part?! Yay! Congrats!

After she replied she went back to work. She loved what she did. There was no better feeling than seeing a child discover a new world or new friends between the covers of a book. Carol found it so very rewarding to help the kids who came into the library find a book because she firmly believed that the books we read as children help shape and form us into who we will become as adults. Because of this belief, she made sure that she focused all of her attention on each child who came in. She had many parents come in who thanked her and a whole refrigerator of drawings from the kids she had helped depicting their favorite adventures from the books they read. Her favorite was one done by a little boy who drew her as a superhero with a book in her hand. She felt a small pang of sadness when she thought how disappointed she was that she didn't have a child of her own to literarily spoil. Carol reminded herself, however, that it was for the best because no child deserved to grow up with someone like Ed for a father.

Carol left late that night. She wanted to place a few orders before she went home for the night because three different children came in that day requesting the same book and she hated having to tell them they didn't have what they wanted. As she locked the door to the library behind her she heard a loud rumbling getting rapidly closer. As she turned around, she saw a black Harley drive by with a long-haired man with a leather jacket with angel wings on his back. Wow, she thought, wouldn't it be fun to go for a ride on that? Chuckling to herself at the thought, Carol walked to her car. As she slid into the light blue Volkswagen bug she thought of how much her life had changed over the past year. She had wonderful friends and she had an amazing job. Most of all, she had escaped the clutches of her ex-husband.

_It was 5:03 and Carol was running late. The lines in the supermarket were really long and she had gotten a late start to begin with. She had already started the dinner, but she was missing a few of the ingredients she needed. Risking it, she blew through the stop sign in front of her, wincing as she was greeted with the blare of car horns. Normally she was a careful driver, but Ed didn't like to be kept waiting. Ed didn't like a lot of things, sometimes it felt like she was at the top of the list, but she couldn't think like that right now. Right now she needed to focus on getting home before he did and getting dinner finished and having his beer on the table waiting for him. She knew this was a long shot, but she needed to think positively. When she neared the house she saw that his car was in the drive. This did not bode well. She parked the car and got out. Unlocking the front door, she quickly stepped inside and quietly closed the door. As Carol turned around she saw Ed with a look of absolute fury in his eyes before she felt the blow to her head. Staggering back into the front door, the paper bag of groceries fell and tomatoes and a head of lettuce came rolling out. Before she could say anything, she felt his hand slap her cheek. She swallowed the blood that she tasted, knowing that if she made a mess he would be even angrier and would make her clean it up later anyway. Bracing herself for the next blow, she waited. When nothing came, she opened her eyes to see him standing there seething._

_"I'm so-" she began, but didn't have a chance to finish when he punched her in the stomach and then gripped her by the throat and pinned her against the door behind her. As she struggled for breath he said, "I got home today and guess who wasn't here?" "M-me," she gasped. "Not as stupid as you look, are you?" he spat, "Where were you? Who were you with? How many times do I have to tell you that I expect the dinner to be on the table when I get home every evening? I didn't think it was that difficult!" She tried to speak but couldn't so she managed to slightly shake her head no. "Well, apparently it is! Because you weren't here. Now, what are we going to do about this?" Her eyes widened in fear. This was not the first time she had made a mistake so she knew, to some extent, what to expect; but today he seemed particularly irate._

_Dropping her suddenly, she collapsed to the floor and was able to catch her breath for a second before he kicked her in the stomach. She fell over and curled up into a ball. He then proceeded to kick her repeatedly, in the shin, in the back, in the face, in the butt, anywhere he could reach. She bit her lip to keep back the sobs and screams of pain. She knew that would just anger him even more._

_She felt one of her ribs crack and his boot glanced off of her wrist in a way that she knew was going to leave her with at least a sprain._

_Carol didn't know how long he kept kicking her and yelling at her. It had to have been at least 10 minutes even though it felt like closer to 2 hours. Finally he lost interest and told her to finish making his supper. He walked into the kitchen and she heard the door of the refrigerator open and then close and the opening of a can. He had gotten a beer and walked into the den to watch the game or something on television. She managed to roll herself into some semblance of a sitting position and allowed herself to get her equilibrium back before standing up and collecting the produce that had scattered when she entered the house._

Carol was jerked out of the memory when she heard the sound of her phone buzzing. Wiping the tears that had begun to fall, she grabbed her phone. It was the director of the play, Dale, telling everyone that he was looking forward to the next night when they would be having their first practice. Focus, Carol, she thought to herself. He is out of your life and the whole point of doing this play is to prove to yourself that you are your own woman, a new woman. You can do this. Stop thinking about him. You are going to be amazing at this and you have Rick there so it won't be too horrible. 

Taking a deep breath, Carol reversed out of her parking space and drove home. Her heart slowed down to a normal pace when she saw the small yellow house; she was home. She parked and made a mental note upon exiting the vehicle that this weekend she needed to plant some flowers in her window boxes. When Carol opened the door to her house she was greeted by Mika, her black cat. "Hi, baby!" Carol cooed when as she hung up her keys and put her bag on the chair whose seat she didn't think had ever been occupied by a human being in the entire time she had owned it. Bending down she scooped up the little fur ball and pet her head as she made her way into the kitchen to make herself a light supper before showering and crawling into bed. She thought of how excited she was for her first day of play practice the following day before she fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding in the rest of the cast and I kind of like how it came together as I hope you agree over the chapter or two. What do you think?

 Daryl awoke with a splitting headache. He couldn't remember what had happened last night after he rode home from the garage. He put his hand to his skull to try and stop the pounding but apparently that small movement was too much for his stomach and her lurched to the bathroom just in time to empty his stomach into the toilet. Feeling significantly better, he sat next to the sink and rested his head against the cool porcelain. As he sat, the events of the previous night came back to him in snippets. He remembered coming home to find Merle and a few of his brother's friends in the den drinking and playing poker. Somehow he had gotten goaded into doing shots with them. That explains the headache, he thought, 15 shots will do that to a person. 

When end he had regainedhia equilibrium he padded into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. Daryl lived in a small house, a shack really, that was a little run down, but still structurally sound. It had two bedrooms, one for Daryl and one was supposed to be a guest bedroom, not that Daryl ever had any guests, but was currently occupied by Merle as a condition of his parole. The bedrooms and the bathroom were situated on the left side of the house. Down a short hallway from there was the kitchen, which was situated in the middle of the house. It, like the house itself, was small. It boasted no more than a table, a refrigerator, a small oven, a sink, and a microwave. that was all the brothers needed; as long as there was room for beer and maybe a pizza they were happy. 

"Mornin' princess! How did her majesty sleep?" Merle greeted Daryl as he entered the kitchen. It being too early to deal with that asshole, Daryl just flipped him off silently and poured himself a cup of coffee. 

Just as he was sitting down to drink his well-needed caffeine his pants began to vibrate. Groaning he reached into his back pocket to retrieve his cellphone. Seeing that it was his, well pretty much only, friend, he answered it with a grunt. "Daryl, didn't your mama ever teach you that grunting is no way to answer the phone?" came a female voice from the other end. "What do ya want, Michonne?" he asked. Being the wife of Rick, he had been around her enough that they had developed a sort of familiarity with one another, her obviously more comfortable than him. 

"Well, Mr. Sunshine, I'm at the hospital with Rick and-" she started. "What the fuck? Did he get shot?" he shouted. Knowing Rick was a cop, that was the only thing he could think of. "I'm on my way," he said standing up. "Would you shut up for a second! He is fine. His appendix ruptured last night so he had to go in for surgery. He is fine. You don't need to come here, but since you are so willing to be helpful, there is something you can do!" she said brightly. Daryl did not like the sound of this.

"You see, Rick was supposed to take the lead in a play because he was helping out a friend of mine. Anyway, being in the hospital and the subsequent recovery, he obviously won't be able to be in the play."

"Ya better not be 'bouta say what I think ya are."

"He was hoping to call in that favor you owe him for getting that speeding ticket. I think it would be good for you to deal with people. You could lear to socialize! Like a puppy!"

"I'm not doin' no fuckin' play, Michonne." At that statement, Merle's ears perked up and he grinned. This was not going to be good. Fuck!

"Or was it a handful of speeding tickets and a drunken and disorderly charge? I can't remember. Oh well. The first practice is tonight at 6, I'll text you the address. The director already knows the situation. Thank you so much! Rick says hi and thank you, or he would if he wasn't so drugged up. I'm actually almost jealous of him. Anyway, you better show up or I _will_ find you," she threatened before hanging up.

Fuck. This was going to suck, but he owed Rick, just as Michonne had said. He made a mental note to punch Rick in the stitches for telling his wife about the drunk and disorderly charge. Rick had promised not to tell anyone about that.

Turning around to get back to his coffee he saw Merle grinning like a cat that got the canary, or whatever the hell bird it is supposed to be. "So, little brother, it sounds like yer gonna be on the stage." "Fuck off," Daryl replied ask he picked up his mug and made his way to the den. He heard Merle follow him and the brothers plopped down into the two ancient armchairs in front of the television. Merle, in a very un-Dixon-like manner, turned to Daryl and opted to talk about this new development rather than ignore everything as was the norm. 

"You're actually doing this, aren't ya?" he said to his little brother. 

Daryl explained that it was in return for a favor Rick had done for him; it was  _not_ voluntary. 

"Maybe I should do it too. Ya know, brother bonding and all that shit," Merle said. Unfortunately Daryl knew that Merle was serious about doing it, though not for the reason he said. Merle just wanted to make fun of Daryl and hook up with every girl on set. He also knew that telling Merle not to do it would solidify his decision to participate. "Do whatever ya want. I don' care."

~~~~~~~~~

Carol couldn't believe she was as early as she was to practice. Was it rehearsal? She wasn't sure and figured she would find out when the director talked to them. She got to the empty theater at 5:15, 45 minutes before  it was scheduled to start. 

Because she was so early she had no choice but to sit in her car until someone showed up to unlock the doors. She turned on the radio and opened the window attempting to get a breeze to blow. Summer in Georgia was not always the most pleasant. She sat there listening to a country station when a vaguely familiar pick up pulled into the lot. It being Georgia, she brushed it off given that lots of people drive trucks. She hummed along to the man sing "I wanna love you like that" as she reread her lines. At this point she could probably play every part in the show by herself. Smiling at the ridiculous thought she was momentadult distracted by the loud conversation, though dispute seemed more appropriate as they continued, going on in the pick up a few spaces away.

Luckily another car pulled into the lot serving as a distraction for all of its previous occupants. The man parked his little rundown Honda near the entrance and hopped out. Judging by the stack of boxes he was carrying she assumed he was the director. She got out of her car, locked the door, and hurried over to the man as he struggled to hold everything and attempt to find the proper key to get into the theater. "Hi!" She said pleasantly, "may I take some of those boxes for you? Or at least help you with the door?" 

Looking up, Dale, an older man wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and an old fishing cap, smiled and said, "I'd offer to shake your hand but the lord only gave us two and mine are more than fulli." Carol knew that she and Dale would get along splendidly. "Allow me, please," she said taking the keys out of his hand and continuing the hunt for the proper key. "Ah-ha!" She said at the same time he said "Atta girl!"

 They made their way into the modestly sized theater. It had seating for maybe 75 people which was enough to send her nerves back into overdrive. Dale noticed that she had stopped walking and put down the boxes and went to stand before her. "Hey, you ok?" He asked. Shaking herself she smiled at him and said, "yes, sorry. I was lost in my own little world." "This is theater, if you aren't getting lost in a world other than the one we live in, then you aren't doing it right," he grinned. Extending her hand to him she introduced herself. "Ah, you are to be our lovely Miss Elizabeth," he said shaking her hand. "I expect our Mr. Darcy to arrive soon and I shall be sure to introduce you." Before she could explain that she knew him already and that he was doing it for her, he lit up and gestured to the door. She turned to the door and froze. This was not happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also want to urge everyone to check out an amazing fic by Starfur73 who just so happens to be my best friend! Give it a try. (I promise she didn't put me up to this)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. I get kind of distracted and I want to make sure that what I'm writing is worth your time. Please be patient with me, I promise to do my best to make it enjoyable!! And thank you for all the support you have given me through these first few chapters :)

“I told ya’ we was gonna be early,” Merle mumbled from the passenger side as him and Daryl pulled into the lot for the theater. “An’ I told _you_ that ya’ shoulda stayed home,” Daryl returned. Granted, Merle was right, they were early, but this was a favor for Rick so he wanted to make sure he didn’t blow it on the first day. He may be a redneck hick, but he is also loyal to a fault.

“Do me a favor and try not to piss off everybody,” Daryl said. He knew it wasn’t worth the breath to say the words, but he figured he would say them anyway. However, Merle’s smirk made him angrier than it should and they spent the next 10 minutes or so arguing. They only stopped when an old Honda pulled in and a short old guy got out with a stack of boxes to open the doors. Then he heard Merle whistle and looked over at his brother. Merle gestured to a woman who was getting out of her Volkswagen bug. She must have gotten there before they did. The brothers watched as the woman and the man managed to get the door unlocked before disappearing inside. “I guess we better go in and get this over with,” said Merle. Daryl didn’t bother reminding him again that Merle didn’t have to be there and that, in fact, Daryl didn’t want him there.

As they walked into the building they followed a short hallway toward the sound of the two people who had walked in. He heard the name Elizabeth, which he figured was the woman’s name, and something about “parsley”. Upon entering the room, the old man beamed over at Daryl and walked over to Daryl and Merle. “Hi! I’m Dale, I’m the director of our little production. Who might you two be?” he said cheerfully.

“Um, I’m Daryl Dixon. I’m filling in for my friend Rick, his wife said you knew I was coming.”

“Of course! Pleasure to meet you. And who is this?” he asked gesturing to Merle.

“Hey, I’m Merle. I’m not signed up but my baby brother here told me all about this and I thought I’d see if you needed another person!” Merle said in an uncharacteristic tone. He was being pleasant. Apparently Dale couldn’t tell it was just an act and shook his hand enthusiastically.

“As a matter of fact, we are in need of a Wickham!”

“Is that like furniture?” Merle asked.

Dale laughed, “No, it’s actually the name of one of the characters.”

Dale led Merle off to a table that had been set up with all of the boxes him and the woman had brought in. Thinking of the woman, Daryl glanced around to see where she was. She was standing there staring at him with a horrified look in her face. Daryl had no idea what this chick’s problem was. “You ok?” he asked her.

Her eyes widened and then she seemed to realize that she was staring and shook her head after rearranging her features. _What the hell?_ Daryl thought to himself.

“I’m Daryl. Who are you?” he asked her. If he was going to have to deal with all of these people for the next few weeks, he might as well make at least one friend.

“Seriously?” she said. Daryl was confused. She shook her head like she had a headache. “Never mind. I’m Carol,” she gritted out and walked over to listen to Dale. For the second time in about 5 minutes Daryl thought _What the hell?_

“Daryl! I see you and Carol have met. I hope you two are getting along because you are playing Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.” _Make that three times._

“Is there a script or somethin’ I should be lookin’ at?” Daryl asked.

“Of course! I’m sorry I thought you had one. I take it you don’t know the story of _Pride and Prejudice_ do you?”

Daryl shook his head. He refused to be embarrassed by not knowing what that was. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t go to plays.

“Oh! That makes this even more special,” the man gushed, “I’ll give you a packet with the synopsis as well as your script.” Rummaging around on the table for a moment, Dale found what he was looking for because a second later he was thrusting a stack of pages at least an inch thick into Daryl’s arms.

“Apparently, little brother, you and Miss Carol over here hate each other but then get married,” Merle said. Glancing over at Carol, Daryl noticed she looked like she wanted to puke or run for the door. _This is going to suck_.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"You _knew_ about this?" Carol whispered into the phone.

"Well...um, yeah. I was going to call you but I knew that you would have dropped out; especially after you found out who was taking Rick's place," Michonne said. There was some barely-audible mumbling in the background and then Michonne said, "Rick really does wish he had been able to do the play. He didn't exactly  _mean_ for his appendix to burst."

Carol sighed, she knew this wasn't intentional and that it wasn't exactly some conspiracy. That didn't mean she was happy about the new arrangement. She hung up with her friend as the director, Dale, called everyone's attention.

After having everyone sit around in a circle, he stood up and introduced himself. "Hi, everybody," he began, "my name is Dale Horvath. I'm your director. I'm excited to get started with rehearsals but first, I would like for us to all go around the circle and introduce ourselves. Please give your name and who you will be playing in our little production." He sat down and gestured to the woman to his left. She was a pretty brunette with short hair. She introduced herself as Maggie, saying she would be playing the part of Jane Bennett. Carol smiled at the woman as she sat down. She seemed like a sweet person and Carol was happy that they would be working so closely together given the roles they were to be playing. After her, an asian man stood up. "Hello!" he began, "My name is Glenn, I'm Maggie's boyfriend and, luckily, will be playing Mr. Charles Bingley. I don't know much about the story, other than what I read online last night, but I do know that that means I get the girl." As he said the last part, he lovingly smiled down at Maggie. They made a very adorable couple and everyone around the circle chuckled as he sat down giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Next came a younger girl, Beth, Maggie's sister, who would be playing Lydia Bennett. Then a black man stood up and introduced himself as Gabriel and said he would be playing Mr. Collins. 

Carol tried to keep her feelings to herself when Daryl stood up. "Yeah, hi. I'm Daryl. Imma be playin' that Mr. Darcy dude. Uh. Thanks," he said awkwardly before sitting down. Everyone gave him a polite round of clapping before the man he came in with stood up. "Hey, y'all. I'm Merle, Daryl here is ma baby brother. Imma be Mr. Wickham," he said looking at Dale for confirmation that he had said the name correctly. Smiling at all of us he waved and plopped back down in his seat. 

There was only one person left before it would be Carol's turn and she was so nervous she almost missed the girl next to her say that her name was Tara and that she was going to be Charlotte Lucas. Then, it was Carol's turn to go. Slowly she stood up and cleared her throat before looking at everyone. "Um, hello. My name is Carol Peletier. I will be playing the part of Elizabeth Bennett. I'm looking forward to working with all of you," she said with a nervous smile before sitting down. Tara gave her a pat on the knee and Maggie smiled at her from across the circle. 

The last person to go was an older woman named Deanna Monroe who announced her roll as Lady Catherine. Deanna and Gabriel looked at each other and nodded their acknowledgment of the dynamic that would exist between their two characters. 

Dale stood up again and said that that would be it for the day. "But please," he added as everyone began to gather their possessions, "be sure to join the group on Facebook to connect with other cast members for practicing outside of our scheduled rehearsals. Thanks, have a good night everyone."

Carol collected her things and was on her way out the door. She wanted to be around Daryl as little as possible. She recognized how childish that seemed, but she could easily have forgiven his actions had he not wounded her pride. As she walked, her phone buzzed and it was a notification that Maggie Greene had requested to be friends on Facebook. Accepting with a smile, Carol made her way to her car and went home to snuggle with Mika.


	6. Chapter 6

As the next week passed, Carol attended all of the rehearsals and got together a couple of times with Tara and Maggie. The trio had become very close in the short period of time and what was originally supposed to be outside meetings to practice lines and discuss that play turned into gossiping girls nights out. Carol received a text from Michonne one Friday about a week and a half after Rick went into the hospital.

-Hey, girlie. Wanted to check in and make sure you were still alive. How is the play going??

-Hey! Sorry I haven't called or anything, I've been really busy :/

-Don't worry about it! I'll just have to let you buy my a drink or six to make up for it ;)

-lol of course. How about tonight? I'm supposed to get drinks with two women from the play, why don't you come?? I know you would LOVE them!

-Sure! why not?

Carol planned to pick up Michonne at 6:30 that evening to leave plenty of time to get to the little bar they were all supposed to meet at. They were the first to arrive and secured a table for the group. They weren't waiting long before Tara and Maggie burst through the door.

Looking up, Carol waved to the incoming pair who quickly made their way over to the table. The women sat down and before Carol could open her mouth to introduce everyone Michonne announces the desperate need their table had for shots. Once they knocked back the first round the conversation and laughter never stopped. 

The conversation eventually turned to the topic of their fellow cast-members. Carol gushed at how cute Maggie and Glenn were and how perfect they were as Bingley and Jane. "But that Daryl. I would sure love to see  _him_ in those tight pants!" Maggie said. They all laughed. "Too bad I don't swing that way," Tara joked. Carol chuckled along with the others, but it was obvious she was not as enamored by the man as the rest of her friends were. Michonne, noticing Carol's sour-puss face, said, "Are you still mad about that date? Was it really that bad?" Tara and Maggie looked between the two with puzzled expressions. "Care to share with the rest of the class?" Tara asked. Looking at the three women sitting around the table with her, and under the influence of quite a few shots and beers, Carol sighed. "Ok," she began, "a year ago Michonne set me up with her husband's best friend, Daryl. I was just getting out of a long and really bad relationship and it seemed like a good way to get back out there. He showed up super late but after that everything was fine until some chick showed up while I was at the bar getting us a drink while we were playing pool. I turn around and she is all pressed up against him and he was smiling and not at all acting like he minded having some blonde bimbo and her huge rack pressed up against him. So I went over and he still didn't make her go, he didn't even say anything when she took one of the beers I had gotten for him and me, nor did he stop me when I grabbed my things and left." She rushed the whole thing out in a breath and took a long swig of her beer when she had finished. 

They all looked appropriately horrified. Carol felt a little guilty clouding their judgement of him before Tara and Maggie had a chance to meet him and form an opinion of their own, but she quickly pushed that away. Just recounting the story brought back the humiliation she felt when she saw him with that other woman while he was on a date with  _her_. After Ed always putting her down and making her feel worthless it was almost a confirmation of everything he had beaten into her when she saw them together. She also felt a little silly for still being mad about it, but her drunken self thought that it was quite appropriate so she just went with it. 

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this after it happened!" Michonne exclaimed a little louder than necessary. "I didn't want to cause any issues for you with Rick," Carol replied quietly. "What an ass! You are totally better off without him. He didn't deserve you," said Maggie with one or two hiccups. Tara nodded her agreement saying, "Yeah, you don't deserve to be treated that way. Nothing excuses that, I don't care if he is the queen of England!"

After giving that a thought for a second or two, all four women burst out into laughter again at the thought of Daryl Dixon as the queen of England. "I think we've had too many," Tara gasped. "I should say so! Can I pour you another?" asked Abraham. "Are you trying to take advantage of our inebriated state, Abey?" asked Michonne. "I think you are the one flirting, Mrs. Grimes," teased the bartender. 

They left soon after that and went their separate ways, Abraham held onto their keys, promising that they could pick them up the next morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," groaned Daryl. The text he had just received from Dale said that there was an 'emergency' meeting that night that he was to attend. "What's the matter, Mr. Dahsee?" taunted Merle in an awful pretend British accent. Daryl ignored the asshat he was unfortunately related to and made his way to his truck.

He arrived at the theater and cut the engine. He only saw that VW from the other night as he made his way to the door. He noticed a note taped to the door that read:

"Come on in. I can't stay, but you need to work on your shared scenes. Scripts are inside on the table. Have fun! -Dale"

 _Ugh, this sucks_. He walked in and saw the woman with the short spiky hair who rolled her eyes at him. "My guess is it's just the two of us," she said. "Sounds 'bout right," he grunted back. He picked up the packet that had his character on it off the table. It appeared that the first scene they were to practice was the first time Elizabeth and Darcy meet.  _Shouldn't be hard,_ he mused,  _she already hates me._

"Let's get this over with," she said.

"We start with the Meryton Assembly according to the script," he stated as the two faced each other.

"You come in as I'm talking with Charlotte and Jane. You are with Bingley."

"Okay," he said and left the room. A second later he returned looking haughty and snobby, or as best as he could manage. She actually looked amused, like she was trying not to smile.  _Could this be progress?_ That would have been great. The past few rehearsals involved screaming matches between the two of them. 

"Fast forwarding to when we actually speak together," Carol said flipping a few pages. "Mr. Darcy, do you like to dance?"

"Not if I can help it, and not if I am not previously acquainted with my partner."

Carol walked off and sat down appearing to have a conversation with an invisible person. _The fuck?_ he thought until he read the rest of the stage directions. 

They continued on in this manner for over two hours. Unfortunately, the amused expression she had earlier didn't last. They deteriorated soon after the Meryton Assembly. They argued and yelled at each other while she was supposed to be staying at Netherfield after Jane got sick. 

"How hard could this possibly be?" she yelled at him. It was the third time they had gone through the same scene and it wasn't going well.

"Would you get off my back! Jeez you are such a nightmare!"

"It's like you don't even care about this! Why are you here in the first place?"

"I was steppin' in for my friend!"

"I know! His wife told me!"

"Wait. You know Rick?"

"Yeah! Michonne is my best friend. You already knew that!"

"How could I know that?"

"You don't remember?" she asked incredulously. 

"What am I s'pposed to be rememberin'?"

Now she looked really pissed. For some reason he thought she was hot when she was mad.

"One year ago? We went on a date. Michonne set us up."

He tried to think back. He couldn't remember anything about her from a year ago. Then it all clicked. He had a blind date the night Merle got out. 

"Oh shit."

"Bingo! Do we have a prize for the winner?" she said crossing her arms.

"Just because we had a bad date doesn't mean you can act like such a bitch!" he said taking a step toward her. He tried to keep his eyes on her face while her chest rose and fell quickly. Her aggravation was obvious and he knew that she wouldn't appreciate his staring.

"And just because you are a redneck, hick doesn't mean you can treat people like trash as well as not take this play seriously!" she said taking a step to meet him. 

Both standing with heaving chests, the tension in the room was palpable. 

"It's just a play! Get your panties out of a bunch." He just managed to get his hand up in time to catch her hand as she was about to slap him. He did the same with the other, holding her hands behind her back. The action brought them closer together, chests pressed together. The height difference made her have to tip her head back to look him in the face.

The anger in her eyes shifted to a whole different kind of heat. His eyes flicked down to her lips and he noticed that she did the same thing. 

And then his mouth was on hers. Who initiated the kiss didn't matter. All that mattered was that his mouth was hungrily eating at hers. He switched so he was holding both of her wrists in one hand so he could grab her neck with the other. He eventially released her hands and the went to his head like metal to a magnet. Weaving her fingers into his hair she tugged him closer. He grabbed her hips and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He walked until he had her pressed against the wall, still hungrily kissing her like he might die if he stopped. 

She moaned as he grabbed her ass and she involuntarily wiggled her hips, needing friction to help ease the feeling between her legs. 

He stopped and gently set her down resting his forehead against hers. He knew she could tell how much he had been affected by their kissing because it was poking her. 

She surprised him by pulling back, looking into his eyes and saying, "Your place or mine?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the smut! I hope you enjoy, I've been looking forward to this bit. I know the last chapter escalated really quickly, but I have to admit, I got a little impatient.

"Yours," he said. He knew that Merle was likely to be at home and he didn't want to deal with him right now. 

"You drive," she said, grabbing her things. As she made her way to the door, he grabbed her hand and pulled her in for another passionate kiss. "Let's go," he whispered in her ear, holding her hand and pulling her toward the exit.

When they got into his truck, she slid over to sit next to him on the bench. As he started the truck, she put her hand on his thigh and began to kiss his neck. Surprised both by the touch and by her boldness, he sucked in a breath. "W-what is your address?" he stammered. She whispered her address into his ear and nibbled at his earlobe. When she moved her hand up, he felt his dick get hard. Groaning he pulled out of the lot and into traffic. A horn blew from a car behind Daryl. Carol giggled beside him, knowing that she was distracting him by the way he was gripping the steering wheel. "Darlin', if you keep at that, we ain't gettin' far," he said to her. 

Giggling again she gave his neck a nip and rested her head on his shoulder, she kept her hand high on his thigh.  _Fuck! If I wasn't_ _drivin'  this would be a whole different kind of ride._

They finally arrived at the little yellow house that he vaguely remembered from that shitty night. He reminded himself to apologize to her again for the way he treated her. 

He didn't have much time to think about the last time he had been there because soon she was pulling him up the front steps and unlocking the door. He pulled her into the house and had her against the door before she had any time to think about it. Daryl pinned her hands above her head and the way she moaned into his mouth he knew that she liked it a little spicy and rough. Soon that wasn't enough for him, and he guessed for her either, so he released her hands which immediately went to his vest. He helped her take off the vest and his tee-shirt underneath before he turned his attention to her clothes. He brought her hands back up above her head to where he had them pinned earlier before he rand his hands down her arms, along the sides of her breasts, lightly touching her nipples with his thumb briefly, before he continued down her waist. When he got to her hips he eased her shirt up her body, kissing and nipping her soft, pale skin as his hands brought the shirt higher and higher. Placing a slightly harder bite on the swell of each boob above her lavender bra before taking her shirt completely off of her. 

Going back to her mouth, they stood there groping each other, her hands in his hair, his hands on her waist and then her ass. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, exactly like they had back at the theater. "Mmm, bedroom," he murmured against her lips. Wildly gesturing down the hall, she continued kissing him, moving to his neck, kissing him right where his pulse was. She bit him there, just as he had done to her earlier, and then soothed the bite with her tongue.  _She is going to kill me_. 

Daryl finally found his way to the bedroom. He threw her on the bed and as she bounced on it, he bent down and ripped off his boots and took off his pants. She toed off her shoes as she watched him and when he looked up she was in just her bra and panties. "Hurry up or I'm going to start without you," she said saucily trailing her hand down to one of her breasts and palmed it over her bra. He could see her nipples strain against the soft cup, similarly to the way he was straining against his boxers. "C'mere," he said pointing to the ground in front of him. She looked at him and then stood up and went to stand before him. He kissed her, pulling her against him so she could feel how turned on he was. Then, he pushed her gently down and she sank to her knees before him. Looking up at him, she held his eyes before reaching up and pulling his boxers down to the floor. His dick sprang free of the confines of his underwear and she gazed at his length. Licking her lips, she looked back up at him before she reached for him with her hand. 

"No hands. Lace your fingers behind your back," he demanded. He knew that he might be pushing it a little, but he was so fucking turned on by this woman that he couldn't help himself. He wanted her to submit and she didn't seem to have any problem with it. Sitting on her hands she held his eyes as she darted her tongue out to lick the tip of his cock. At his groan she turned back to the task at hand and she licked up one side and down the other a few times before placing her lips around the tip and giving a hard suck. He took in a sharp breath as he watched her take him a little deeper before she began bobbing her head up and down, taking a little more each time. By the time she had taken half of his length he knew he wouldn't last long. "If you keep doing that this is going to end before it even starts," He said to her as he withdrew from her mouth and cupped her face in his hands. He briefly thought she leaned into his touch but she quickly stood up and stepped out of her panties. As she unhooked her bra to stand in front of him naked he looked her up and down. He noticed a flash of self-consiousness in her eyes before it was replaced with lust. 

She was gorgeous, standing before him with nothing on, hands fidgeting at her side. He couldn't wait anymore and Daryl stepped towards her and cupped her breasts in his hands. After palming them, he turned his attention to one and brought his mouth to her nipple. He flicked it with his tongue and blew on it so it pebbled even more before he gently took it in his teeth. She moaned and her head fell back as he nibbled, tugged, and sucked on one nipple while his other hand teased her other breast. After a minute or two he switched sides. Keeping one hand on her breast and his mouth on the other, he trailed his other hand down her side until he brought it to the spot between her legs that he had yet to show any attention.

She moaned louder as he brushed his finger through the soft curls there before he slid it through her wet folds. He brought his mouth back up to her ear, kissing and sucking his way there. "Mm, someone has been enjoying themselves, haven't they?" he said. "Mhm," she nodded. He chuckled and walked her backwards to the bed. With her near the edge of the bed, he put one of her knees on his shoulder  and leaned her back, kissing her hard and fast. As she gripped his shoulders, Daryl brought his finger back to her pussy. Toying with her slick folds he eased a finger into her. She moaned and dug her fingers more into his shoulders. Spurred on by it, he worked the finger in and out getting a little faster before adding in another finger. He felt her stretch and gave her a second to accommodate the additional finger before he went back to fingering her. Daryl used his thumb to press on the little bundle of nerves that he knew would make her squirm. Using his weight to pin her to the bed he started to kiss her neck, sucking and biting, pressing a little harder on her clit as he bit down to amplify both sensations. Carol threw her head back and began panting. 

"Tell me what you want," he said to her.

"Unf," she grunted in response.

"Those aren't words. Use your words and tell me what you want."

"You."

"What do you want me to do?" He knew he was torturing her, but he knew he was going to make up for it soon and he enjoyed watching her squirm.

"Fuck me."

Obliging to her request, he removed his fingers and she pouted at the loss. Nipping her jutted out bottom lip, he stood up and fished into his pants for his wallet and the condom he kept there. After sheathing himself, he went back to her. She had moved up the bed so she was resting on a pillow and had her hands behind her, gripping the bars on her headboard. Grinning at her, Daryl climbed back onto the bed and put her leg back up on his shoulder before pressing against her entrance. Claiming her lips again, he pushed inside. He heard her whimper a little so he stopped and just worked the first few inches in and out until she got used to the feeling. Then he slowly started to go deeper until he was buried to the hilt. Resting there with his head on her shoulder, he caught his breath for a minute because he knew that if he went too fast, it would be over too quickly.

Once he regained his composure he used his elbows to support himself as he began to thrust into her, slowly and gently and gradually going harder and faster until they were grunting and moaning. His balls were slapping against her ass and the hair at the base of his dick was rubbing against her clit with every powerful thrust of his hips causing her to go higher and higher but before she could go over the edge, he pulled out. Before she could protest, he flipped her over and commanded her to get on her knees. Complying, she put her chest on the bed and put her butt in the air. He put his hand on her ass, squeezing it as he marveled and admired the woman before him. He noticed a few scars on her back and on her hip but he ignored them because he had other things to think about. 

Daryl had been wanting to know what this woman tasted like all night, so he leaned down and swiped his tongue from her clit to her ass. She nearly collapsed but he grabbed her hips and continued to eat her pussy. She tasted like honey and woman and it was heaven. He felt himself grow harder just tasting her. Giving her clit a few more flicks with his tongue and a long suck, he went back up on his knees and plunged back into her slick heat. It was a good thing she had situated herself the way she did because he knew that she would have collapsed with the sensation and the force of his thrust. Gripping her hips he slammed her back as he thrust forward, impaling her on his dick. She moaned loudly into the quilt on the bed as she bunched up the sheets with her hands. He kept going, reaching down and playing with her breasts and nipples causing her to groan even louder. 

Daryl felt the familiar tingle in the base of his spine and the drawing up of his balls signaling he was close. He knew she was on the edge as well and began to pound faster into her. He was pretty sure she was going to have bruises from his fingers on her hips, but hopefully it was worth it for her in the morning. He pounded until he was on the cusp of his orgasm before he said, "Cum for me, babe," and gave her a slap on the ass. That seemed to do the trick because before he could put the hand back onto her hip, he heard her scream and felt her muscles coke his dick causing him to spill into the condom. He kept thrusting, riding out both of their powerful orgasms before she collapsed beneath him. 

He got up and threw out the condom in the bathroom that they passed earlier on their way to the bedroom. As he reentered the bedroom he saw her sprawled out on the bed. He put on his boxers and sat at the edge of the bed. She opened her eye and looked at him. They just stared at each other for a few minutes before either of them said anything.

"So," she said.

"So," he returned.

He wasn't sure what to do at this point. Did he crawl into bed with her? Was he supposed to leave? He didn't know. Daryl hoped she would give some indication as to her expectations. She continued to look at him and he was getting uncomfortable. 

"Are you going to get in bed or just watch me sleep?" she said closing her eyes.

_Sassy!_

He pulled back the covers and climbed in but not before pulling her to him so he could put the blankets over them both. "Thank you, Mr. Darcy," she mumbled before her breathing deepened and he knew she was asleep. Daryl shook his head slightly and rolled onto his side, facing away from her, and closed his eyes and fell asleep in his costar's bed.  _Tomorrow morning is going to be interesting_.


	8. Chapter 8

Carol awoke the next morning feeling deliciously sore. She thought about the night before and would have blushed had she not enjoyed it so much. When she went to move, she realized that there was an arm across her waist holding her against a very warm solid wall of a body. Turning her head slightly, Carol saw a peaceful looking Daryl Dixon sleeping on her bed. She was cuddling with Mr. Darcy. Pushing that thought away she tried to get up to go to the bathroom and to call Michonne about her night, but she couldn't move. He had a tight grip on her and his leg was thrown over hers effectively pinning her in place.  _Now what am I going to do?_ She thought to herself. She shifted onto her back and attempted to shimmy out of his grip. Mentally patting herself on the back when she managed this feat without waking up her bed partner, she went to the bathroom. 

When she was done, she fed Mika and started the coffee pot. As she sat with her little cat in her lap and a cup of coffee she reflected on the night she had just spent with her costar. She smiled to herself at the thought as she remembered how good he had felt and how long it had been since she had had sex with anyone. Ed wasn't interested in sex a the end of their marriage approached. He usually passed out in the chair in front of the television at night and, sometimes, only woke up long enough to stumble into their bedroom before passing out again. Snuggling further into her chair with Mika, she thought about how nice it would be to be able to have every night be like the one before.  _That is ridiculous! I can't stand the man. Sure, he is phenomenal in the sack, but I don't want anything else from him. He is rather insufferable._ As she debated mentally, she didn't notice Daryl emerge from the bedroom and enter the kitchen. Carol jumped when he kissed her on the top of the head. "Oh, coffee," he said huskily, as he shuffled over to the coffee pot. She watched him make himself a cup of coffee and turn around to lean against the counter. It was as though they had been living together for years.

"Mornin'," he said, smiling.

"Good morning."

"You sleep ok?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Mhm."

The silence that fell after the brief exchange was uncomfortable for Carol. She had just had passionate angry sex with this man, the same man that flirted with another woman while on a date with Carol. Now she didn't know what to say. "So, about last night," she began only to be cut off by his raising his hand. "I know what you're gonna say. Your gonna say that 't was a mistake and it ain't happn'n again." She sat there looking at him and then surprised herself by responding, "I was actually going to see if you wanted to do it again." He stared at her stunned. She was a little stunned herself. Just minutes before she reprimanded herself for considering it, but her she was going right ahead and suggesting it to him. "Last night was great. I haven't had sex in a while and I don't want to go back to using my vibrator after what you did to me." He simply stared at her as she continued. "I'm not interested in a relationship. I am divorced and I don't want to go through what I went through again. I do, however, want to keep having sex. So, I propose a friends with benefits situation. We continue to be costars and fuck whenever one of us has an urge." She was surprised by her own cavalier attitude, but she was also surprised by how agreeable the arrangement sounded. He wasn't really someone she wanted to get to know better and she didn't want to deal with another Ed, but she did like the way he made her feel. She was again surprised when he nodded. "So just fuckin'? No emotional shit or nothin'?" he asked. Shaking her head he nodded again. "Alright. Sounds good to me."

Continuing to stare at him, he put his mug down and made his way over to her. He took the mug out of her hands and set it down on the little table next to her chair. She sucked in a breath when he picked up Mika and put her on the floor, giving her a little scratch behind the ear, before returning to Carol. He bent down and cradled her face in his hands. "So, how 'bout round two?" he said as he crashed his lips into hers. 

Carol was totally fine with that idea and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him close and wrapped her legs around his waist. She inwardly thought about how they always managed to end up in that position but quickly focused on the events at hand. She was surprised when he picked her up and started to move back down the hallway, and was even more surprised when he kicked open the door to the bathroom. He set her down on the toilet seat as he went to turn on the faucet. She watched as Daryl began to undress while facing her. He removed his shirt and as he lifted it above his head, she licked her lips as his muscles rippled beneath his skin. Carol tucked her knees up under her chin as she continued to watch the little show he put on as the water warmed to the proper temperature. She could see that he was already getting hard, his half erection tenting his boxers slightly. Remembering what that thin fabric concealed, she bit her lip. When he finally stood naked before her she rose from her seated position upon the toilet seat and slowly unbuttoned the over-sized shirt she slept in.

Her nipples were getting hard as she watched him watch her. The way his gaze was fixed upon her made her feel as though his hands were touching her, even though he stood a few feet away. As the number of buttons left to undo dwindled, the gap in the front of her shirt widened and the more Daryl could see. She knew he was enjoying it by the slow lengthening of his cock until it was pointed directly at her by the time she had finished unbuttoning. "I think he knows what he wants," she said, shrugging out of the garment and letting it pool on the floor. "We sure as hell do," he said as he reached for her and pulled her in so he could kiss and suck on her neck. She felt him give her a long hard suck and knew that there would be a mark left there. Oddly enough, the idea turned her on; she liked the idea of being marked for some reason. Deciding to delve into that little puzzle at a later date she focused her attention on the feeling of his mouth on her body.

When she opened her eyes she noticed wisps of steam rising from her shower and she broke away. Walking backward, in what she hoped was a seductive and tantalizing manner, Carol stepped into the shower under the hot spray. Daryl's eyes darkened as he watched her walk and even more when he heard her moan as the water ran over her sore muscles.

She looked him in the eye as she slicked her soaked hair back and let her hands continue the motion, trailing them around her neck slowly and down to her breasts. With that he seemed to come out of his slight daze and was in the shower in seconds. Carol giggled as he cradled the back of her head and gently pushed her against the wall. She reveled in his ability to be gentle even when he was being rough. It was so different from her experience in her marriage. She had no idea that passion and gentleness could go together, especially so successfully, thinking of the past few hours. 

Bringing her attention back to the mouth on hers, she scolded herself for constantly getting lost in her thoughts. They were just friends scratching an itch, he still deserved her full attention. _Are you actually friends? 24 hours ago you couldn't stand him and now you're naked together. Oh shut up and focus on_ his- her ironic inner ramblings were cut off as she felt something hot and wet between her legs. While she was talking to herself he had gotten down on his knees and had one of her legs on his shoulder as he pressed the flat of his tongue against her still-sensitive clit and hummed. The vibrations went right to every single nerve ending in the small bud. Her head fell back, banging a little into the tile behind her, not that she really noticed because all of her focus was on her clit and the man currently humming to it. She giggled and he stopped, looking up at her he looked puzzled and maybe a little hurt. When she realized that his tongue wasn't there anymore she looked down and at his expression she said, "I'm sorry! I was just thinking that when you hum It's supposed to, generally, calm someone or get them to sleep, like a baby, but I am certainly not feeling sleepy right now. It feels so good. I promise I wasn't laughing at you." Quirking an eyebrow at that he said, "Remind me later to show you what happens when you aren't focusing on me when I'm licking your pussy." At his words, a shiver ran down her spine. Given her past, she should have been terrified but for some reason she knew Daryl wouldn't lay a hand to her in anger. It was weird because she hadn't know him long, but something deep inside her said he wouldn't hurt her untentionally or in anger. 

After a second studying her, he refocused on her pussy in front of him. Carol let out a long moan as he gave her a long, firm swipe from her tight asshole to her clit. It was an erotic feeling. She had never thought of her rear as an erogenous area but she filed the sensation away for further consideration. He then began using his tongue to fuck her. Whoever said that it was the strongest muscle in the body was right. God, the feeling of his wet tongue going in and out of her was incredible. The man was certainly talented. 

The warmth from the water coming down from above and the warmth of his tongue coming from below made her burn with a fire further ignited and fueled by the way he made her climb higher and higher. She gripped his hair and pressed into him, almost reaching the peak before her orgasm, but he stopped. 

Carol stared down in bewilderment at him as he smirked at her. Taking a second to think, she slowly grinned down at him. Reaching down, she pulled him up and switched their positions so she was kneeling on the shower floor and he was pressed against the wall. Looking up at him she leaned forward and put the tip of his cock in her mouth. Skipping the teasing with her tongue she just gave him a long hard suck. By the sound he emitted and the way his knee shook briefly she knew that had he not been standing against the wall he would have fallen. 

"Ok, ya made your point. Let's get outta here so we can do this a little more safe."

Smirking at him she stood and they turned off the water. He got out first and got a towel for her after wrapping one around his waist. After drying off, they went to the bedroom to do exactly as he had suggested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I promise the next chapter will be more plot. This kind of turned into porn without much plot. Oops! (Not really sorry)   
> I want to thank Starfur373 for her help. I was having some issues with this next bit and she let me bounce ideas off of her. You should check out her stories, one complete and a new one she just started. Thanks, Boo!


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